Insurance Repository: Advantages of holding insurance policies in electronic form

IRDAI in the year 2011 introduced the Insurance Repository (IR) system to provide policyholders a facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form and to undertake changes, modifications, and revisions in the insurance policy with speed and accuracy to bring about efficiency, transparency, and cost reduction in the issuance and maintenance of insurance policies.

Insurance Repositories (IR) are similar to Share Depositories, or Mutual Fund Transfer Agencies, where IR maintains data for insurance policies issued to individuals in electronic form, on behalf of the insurers. Such policies are also called electronic policies, or e-Policies. e-insurance policy is a policy document that is an evidence of insurance contract issued by an insurer digitally signed by the applicable provisions prescribed by law and issued in an electronic form directly to the policyholder or through the platform registered insurance repository. A list of all policies that are credited will be available in the e-Insurance Account. For each policy, policy level details like the status, commencement, maturity/expiry, nomination, assignment, endorsement, address, terms, and conditions, etc., would be available. In addition, the e-Insurance Account holder will be able to download a copy of the policy bond.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has granted the Certificate of Registration to the following four entities to act as ‘Insurance Repositories’ that are authorized to open eIA. You may open the account with any one of the following repositories.

NSDL Database Management Limited

Central Insurance Repository Limited

Karvy Insurance Repository Limited

CAMS Repository Services Limited

Advantages of holding e-Insurance:

• One of the prominent benefits of e-insurance is that you have all your policy-related documents be it life, pension, health or general can be held under a single e-insurance account (e-IA). You get a consolidated view of all the insurance policies in a single place (account). It allows you to track and access your insurance policies whenever required.
• There is no risk of loss or damage of a policy as is common with paper policies. The electronic form ensures that the policies are in safe custody and can be easily accessed whenever and wherever needed.
• e-Insurance account (eIA) is offered ‘free of cost’ to the applicants. There are no charges levied to the individual for opening the eIA, maintaining the eIA, and or changing any details of the eIA.
• Policyholders with an eIA can access their accounts from anywhere around the world and make changes to their existing insurance documents.
• If there’s any change in your contact details, no hassle of updating it in every policy. Update the same in your e-insurance account; the changes will be auto-updated in all your insurance policies. There would be no need to go to several offices of individual Insurers for service.
• The details of any of the policies can be accessed at any time by logging on to the online portal of the Insurance Repository.
• Service requests in respect of the e-Insurance Account or any of the electronic policies can be submitted at any of the Insurance Repository’s service points.
• An e-Insurance Account holder is freed from the trouble of submitting KYC details each time a new policy is taken.
• The Insurance Repository would send a statement of account to the e-Insurance Account holder with the details of the policies of the account holder, at least once in a year.
• Premiums for all the policies can be paid online and several service requests can be logged from the e-Insurance.
• Since, the Insurance Repositories function in addition to the Insurers, the policyholders will have an increased number of touch points for having their servicing needs attended.
• Policy benefits would be paid through an electronic facility to the registered bank account, thus ensuring speedier and more convenient settlement.
• A single view of all policies will be made available to an authorized person in case of the death of the e-Insurance Account holder.
• The authorized person and the nominee can be the same.

Procedure for opening the e-insurance account:

Opening an e-insurance account is not a difficult job. You can open it with any one of the four insurance repositories approved by IRDA or through your insurance company.

Choose your preferred Insurance Repository

Download the eIA opening form

Fill up this form.

Attach self-attested KYC documents, which include copies of identity proof, date of birth proof, and address proof.

Provide personal details, bank details (a canceled cheque), and contact details.

A recent passport-size photograph should also be affixed to the form.

Submit the e-Insurance Account Opening Form along with the KYC documents to the office of the Insurance Repository or the Insurance Company or the nearest Approved Person. Approved Person means an entity approved and appointed by an insurance repository as its agent to perform certain assigned tasks about and incidental to the functions of the Insurance Repository. Normally, your account will be created within 7 days from the date of submission of the application completed in all respects. You will receive a confirmation mail and SMS on your registered e-mail ID and mobile number.

An e-insurance account can be opened without actually buying or holding insurance policies. Once you have opened an e-insurance Account, to buy a new policy in electronic form, you just need to quote your unique e-insurance Account number in your new insurance proposal form and make a request to issue a policy in an electronic form. It is also possible to convert the existing paper policies into electronic form. A service request may be made to the Insurance Repository or Insurer or the Approved person in this regard.

Note: As per the IRDAI guidelines, (i) an individual cannot open multiple e-Insurance Accounts. (ii) FDI is not allowed in the insurance repository.

Requests for the status of a policy can be made to the repository or directly to the insurer concerned. Upon a request, the Insurance Repository would handle all servicing needs that fall within the scope of their services directly and would forward the others to the Insurer concerned. An update to the policyholder would be provided by the Insurance Repository on the status of the request concerning all the requests that it receives.

Death Claim: After the demise of the e-Insurance Account holder and after settlement of all Insurance claims, the Authorized representative needs to request the Insurance Repository to close the e-Insurance Account.

iTerx is a central index server that offers de-duplication services and acts as a KYC repository, messaging servicing hub between entities creating eIAs, electronic policies, and their servicing.

Disclaimer: The content on this page is generic and shared only for informational and explanatory purposes. It is based on industry experience and several secondary sources on the internet; and is subject to changes. Please read the related product brochures for exclusions, terms, and conditions, warranties, etc. carefully before opening an e-insurance account.

Source: IRDAI and other secondary sources

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